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A review by red_dog
The Private Lives of the Saints: Power, Passion and Politics in Anglo-Saxon England by Janina Ramírez
4.0
A really good book about the Anglo-Saxon period, as told via the frame of the rock stars of their day, the saints. I really enjoyed Ramírez's take on the evidence, and was particularly interested to learn how Bede consigned the raven, as a key supporting figure in Anglo-Saxon pagan folklore, to the dustbin of mythological history with simple flick of his editorial quill when reviewing the bible story of Noah in a translated manuscript.
If I have any criticism of the book, it's one that I realise is specifically particular to me - in terms of the story of St Cuthbert, I actually think his long afterlife as a specifically referenced player in the affairs of his community (i.e. if you dealt with the community of Cuthbert in Lindisfarne and later Durham after Cuthbert's death, contemporary sources saw the bishop they were talking to as a stand-in for Cuthbert himself) is fascinating and could have been explored to some extent in the book. But then the world doesn't revolve around me, and maybe I should write my own bloody book?! ;-)
Overall, I recommend this book if you've any interest in history, religion, or just the Anglo-Saxons in general.
If I have any criticism of the book, it's one that I realise is specifically particular to me - in terms of the story of St Cuthbert, I actually think his long afterlife as a specifically referenced player in the affairs of his community (i.e. if you dealt with the community of Cuthbert in Lindisfarne and later Durham after Cuthbert's death, contemporary sources saw the bishop they were talking to as a stand-in for Cuthbert himself) is fascinating and could have been explored to some extent in the book. But then the world doesn't revolve around me, and maybe I should write my own bloody book?! ;-)
Overall, I recommend this book if you've any interest in history, religion, or just the Anglo-Saxons in general.